“In the traditional view, a person is free. He is autonomous in the sense that his behavior is uncaused. He can therefore be held responsible for what he does and justly punished if he offends. That view, together with its associated practices, must be re-examined when a scientific analysis reveals unsuspected controlling relations between behavior and environment.” IfsPersonsDoeTogetherViewsPracticeEnvironmentBehaviorRelationResponsibleTraditionalAnalysisAutonomous Author:B. F. Skinner
“Any single historical event is too complex to be adequately known by anyone. It transcends all the intellectual capacities of men. Our practice is to wait until a sufficient number of details have been forgotten. Of course things seem simpler then! Our memories work that way; we retain the facts which are easiest to think about.” ThinkingMenWayHas BeensFactsSeemsCoursesWaitingMemoriesNumbersKnownPracticeEventsIntellectualCapacityHistoricalComplexesForgottenDetailsSufficientOur MemoriesHistorical Events Author:B. F. Skinner
“Better contraceptives will control population only if people will use them. A nuclear holocaust can be prevented only if the conditions under which nations make war can be changed. The environment will continue to deteriorate until pollution practices are abandoned. We need to make vast changes in human behavior.” PeopleIfsNeedsHumansArtWarPhilosophyUseNationsPracticeHistoryEnvironmentConditionsChangedBehaviorPopulationNuclearAbandonedHolocaustPollutionHuman BehaviorContraceptives Author:B. F. Skinner
“The severest trial of oppression is the constant outrage which one suffers at the thought of the oppressor. What Jesus discovered was how to avoid the inner devastations. His technique was to practice the opposite emotion... a man may not get his freedom or possessions back, but he's less miserable. It's a difficult lesson.” MenMaySufferingJesusDifficultEmotionPracticeLessonsOppositesConstantPossessionTechniqueTrialsOppressionMiserableOutrageOppressorsDevastation Author:B. F. Skinner
“Overcrowding can be corrected only by inducing people not to crowd, and the environment will continue to deteriorate until polluting practices are abandoned.” PeoplePracticeEnvironmentCrowdsAbandonedOvercrowding Author:B. F. Skinner
“Many social practices essential to the welfare of the species involve the control of one person by another, and no one can suppress them who has any concern for human achievements” HumansPersonsSocialPracticeSocietyEssentialsAchievementConcernSpeciesWelfare Author:B. F. Skinner
